Page 26 of Dark Endures

“And you weren’t the one that added twenty thousand dahlias onto the list?”

He shrugs. “They’re my favorite.”

The two of them are sickeningly sweet. What would it feel like—Nope, don’t dream about impossible things.

Two Hundred Dollars

Maddox

If one more person knocks on my door, I’m going to shoot them. This is why I need a secretary. Someone to threaten people for me so that I don’t need to be distracted by their incessant problems.

Like any of my brothers would let a secretary stop them.

A gun… I could get her a gun.

That would be a picture to remember… a sexy woman with long legs and a gun threatening to shoot my brothers. Maybe she’d be a dumb blonde who doesn’t understand what happens in this office but a good shot. Most of my brothers already have a few holes in them, anyway. They won’t mind getting a couple more.

Like a hot blonde would last around here. She’d be married off in a month or two.

And I don’t need any more women problems around here. Mindy is enough to keep me busy.

I’m never going to get through this paperwork if I keep dreaming about a dumb blonde. It’s better than thinking about Mindy’s smile. She is way too young for me, even if I was looking to date. Which I’m not. All I want to do is figure out her problem,and then get rid of her before she can create any more issues for me.

“Are you okay?”

Fiona’s voice startles me. “Just fine.”

“Sure, you are. I can always walk into your office and sit down in your chair without you hearing me.”

Fea knows me too well. “It’s nothing. Just a small problem on Willow Street.”

“Well then, I have another to add to your list.”

I sigh silently. “What’s wrong?”

“Someone just stole from the bakery.”

WHAT? “Next time, start with that. Was there a robbery?” How did someone get past security? Why didn’t someone on the security team alert me? I reach for the gun in my desk drawer.

“There wasn’t a robbery. Someone drained one of the petty cash accounts. There wasn’t much in it. A couple hundred dollars. But I watched the account flip to zero. And I’m the only one with access to that account.”

Impossible. I mean, it’s possible. But why would a hacker bother with such a small account? “Are you sure it wasn’t a bill you forgot about?”

She raises an eyebrow at me.

Fine, we both know she rarely forgets anything.

“See for yourself.” Fea opens a laptop that I didn’t notice before and flips it around to show me the bank account.

The electronic transfer was made to a company named Jokesonyou. “That’s definitely a hacker.” We haven’t had anyone—

My office door opens without a knock.

Pit storms in. “Someone stole from the pet shop just now.”

Another one? “Was it online?”

“Yeah? One of the petty cash accounts. I got an alert on my phone for a transaction. Get this, it’s to some company called Jokesonyou. The joke is going to be on them when I find them.”

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